Breakdown of Heinäkuussa ja elokuussa on aina kuuma.
olla
to be
ja
and
aina
always
kuuma
hot
heinäkuu
July
elokuu
August
Questions & Answers about Heinäkuussa ja elokuussa on aina kuuma.
How do we form "in July" and "in August" in this sentence?
To say "in a certain month", Finnish uses the inessive case (the "in" ending). You just add -ssa or -ssä to the name of the month. Since both heinäkuu (July) and elokuu (August) contain back vowels (a, o, u), they take the -ssa ending, giving us heinäkuussa and elokuussa.
The English translation says "it is", but where is the word for "it"?
Finnish doesn't use a "dummy pronoun" like "it" when talking about the weather or a general feeling in the air. Instead of saying se on kuuma (it is hot), you just use the verb directly: on kuuma (is hot).
Is there a trick to remembering the words for July and August?
Yes! Finnish month names are very literal and all end in kuu (moon/month). Heinäkuu is the "hay month" (heinä = hay), which was the traditional time for making hay. Elokuu is the "harvest month" (elo = harvest/grain/life).
Why is the word order ... on aina kuuma?
In Finnish sentences, the verb usually likes to be in the second "position". Here, the whole time phrase Heinäkuussa ja elokuussa acts as the first block of information. The verb on comes immediately after it, followed by the adverb aina (always) and the adjective kuuma (hot).
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